Wellhead



July 5, 1949 G. A. HuMAsQN y 2,475,429

WELL-HEAD Filed Oct. 1.. 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 (jme/wim v @dany/Wc f? //mason July 5, 1949.

Filed Oct. 1, 1945 G.A.HUMASON WELL-HEAD /a .ya

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 gland 23 with the expansible resilient seal ring 24 between them and secured to them. This seal ring may be made hollow and iluid under pressure may be introduced into it, to expand it, through the pressure line 25 leading from a suitable source of pressure and equipped with a two way valve 26 which may be turned to one position to ,admit pressuref-uid into -the seal ring and to anotherposition to relieve said fluid pressure through the relief line 21. The upper section of the tubing head has an inside upwardly facing shoulder 28 to support the antifriction rollers 29 which may be lubricated through the duct 30* which is equipped with a tting 33a for the connection of. a grease gun thereto. The gland 23 has an external downwardly facing shoulder 30 and between said shoulder 30 and the anti-friction rollers 29 there is a ring 3| which surrounds the gland 23 and supports it on said rollers This ring has an vexternal annular groove 32 and threaded through the wall of the section 5there. are the retainer screws 33 whoseinner ends project into the groove 32 so that the ring 3| maybe permitted to turn with the gland,23. on said rollers or may be permitted to rotate independently of the gland.

Around the upperend of the gland there is a packing assembly 34 which fits closely within the upper section 5 ofthe tubing head. Beneath the packing assembly..34 the gland has an external annular groove 35 and opposite said groove the head section 5,is.provided with cylinders 35, 36 having the -ends caps 31, 31 thereon and within the cylinders. there are the gland retainers 38,38 which work through aligned bearings in the head section 5 and whose innerends project into the groove 35. The rotatable packing assembly is thus retained in the tubing head but permitted to rotate. Between the retainers 38 and the caps 31 are coil springs, as 39, which.

hold the retainers inwardly in active position. Attached to the retainers 38 and extending outwardly throughthe caps 31 are the rods 4i! whose outer ends are formed with grip members 4l. The retainers-may thus. be withdrawn from the groove 35-when itis desired to remove the packing assembly from. the tubing head. The packing assembly has a polygonal, axial, passageway therethrough to receive the correspondingly shaped grief joint 42 ofthe drill stem 43 and through which .said vdrill, stem V.may be rotated by the rotary drilling machine 44 of any conventional construction and shown in Figure 3. As drilling progresses the rotatable packing assembly above describedwill rotate with the drill stem and suflicient vpressure may be applied within the seal ring-24 to, prevent the escape of drilling uid or of normal well pressure.

Rotatablymounted in the head assembly there is a hanger 45 and connected to this hanger and depending therefrom there is a safety sleeve 45 which extends down into the well and is of substantially the same length as the grief joint 42. The hangerV includes a seal ring, as 41, which forms a sea-Lbetween the upper end of the safety sleeve and the braden head I.

The lower end ofthegrief joint 42 is, connected to the upper. end of the drill stem proper .and as the `Well is deepened the grief joint is, .from time to time,.,br oken out and additional sections added to the upper end of the drillstem. `In the presentillustration the grief joint includes also a tubular -valve casing 48 havingside inlet openings 49 and above them there is a downwardly openingmspring seatedyalve r5i] which .4 closes the passageway through said grief joint.

While drilling the drilling fluid from the slush pit is forced by the slush pump 5l through the inilow line 52 into the head assembly beneath the rotatable packing assembly above described and this drilling fluid enters the drill stem 43 through the inlet ports 49, the valve 5i! preventing its passage upwardly through the grief joint and the rotatable packing assembly preventing its passage upwardly around the grief joint 42. The drilling fluid is thus forced down through the drill stem and through the iiuid passageways in the drill 53, or 53a, and returns back up lthrough the well casing 2 and back to the slush pit through the out flow line 3.

In case high pressure is encountered the drill stem sections added to the upper end of the stem from time to time, as hereabove explained, may be equipped with sealing assemblies suitably secured thereto, as shown in Figure l, and comprising upper and lower wear rings 54, 55 with seal rings, as 56, between them, said assemblies tting closely within the safety sleeve 46,. as shown in Figure 1, and these sealing assemblies together with the rotatable packing assembly in the tubing head perform the function of the conventional separate blow out preventer thus preventing blow outs and enabling the operator to continue drilling operations in the presence of high well pressure. More than one of the drill stem sections may be equipped with these sealing assemblies so arranged that a seal will at all times be maintained between the drill stem and the safety sleeve 46 when the drill stem is f elevated to break out the grief joint in the process of adding another section to the drill stem as the well is dispensed.

On opposite sides of the lower section 6 of the tubing head are secured the cylinders 51, 51 and connected .into the outer ends of them are the pressure lines 58, 58 which lead to a pressure pump 59, as` shown in Figure 3.

Within the cylinders 51 are the plungers 50, 60 and attached to these plungers are the plunger rods 6 l 6I whose inner ends work through aligned bearings in a head section 6, as shown in Figure 4. Surroundingthe plunger rods 6l and interposed between the plungers 60 and the inner ends of the cylinders .51 are the coil springs 62 which normally hold the rods retracted during drilling operations. In case of high pressure in the well a fluid may beforced by the pump 59 into the cylinders 51 thus forcing the plunger and plunger rods inwardly so that in case the drill stem is forced upwardly by the well pressure the upper end of the cage 43 will engage said rods Si to prevent the drill stem from being blown out of the well.

The drawings and description are illustrative merely while the broad principle of the invention will be dened by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Well drilling apparatus comprising, a tubular well head, a tubular drill stem through the head including a grief joint and having a side inlet passageway for drilling fluid, a rotatable packing assembly in the head around the grief joint of the stem and above the inlet passageway, a tubular, rotatable, sleeve depending from the head around and spaced from the drill stem, a seal between said sleeve and stem beneath said inlet passageway, an upper inlet pipe entering the head beneath said packing assembly and above said seal and a lower outflow line leading out from the space outside of said sleeve and an annular seal between the sleeve and head above said outflow line.

2. Well drilling apparatus comprising, a tubular well head, a tubular drill stem through the head having a side inlet passageway for drilling fluid, a rotatable packing assembly in the head around the grief joint of the stem and above the inlet passageway, a rotatable, annular hanger in the head, a sleeve depending from the hanger around and spaced from the drill stem, a seal between said sleeve and stem beneath said inlet passageway, an inlet pipe entering the head beneath said packing assembly and above said seal, an outflow line leading out from the space outside of said sleeve and an annular seal between said sleeve and head above the outflow line.

3. Well drilling apparatus comprising, a tubular well head, a tubular drill stem through the head having a side inlet passageway for drilling fluid, a rotatable packing assembly in the head around the grief joint of the stern above the inlet passageway, a rotatable hanger mounted in the head and concentric therewith, a rotatable sleeve depending from, and concentric with the hanger 4and surrounding and spaced from the drill stem,

a seal on the hanger between the head and the sleeve, a seal on the stem between said sleeve and the stem beneath said inlet passageway, an inlet pipe entering the head beneath said packing assembly and above the hanger through which fluid may enter the stem, an outflow line leading out from the space outside of the sleeve and beneath the hanger seal through which fluid may ow from the well.

4. In well drilling apparatus, a tubular well head, a tubular drill stem through the head and having a side inlet passageway for drilling fluid, a rotatable packing assembly within the head between the drill stem and sleeve, an inlet pipe.

entering the head above said side inlet passage- Way and beneath the packing assembly whereby drilling fluid may be forced into the head and through said passageway and downwardly through the stem, an outow line connected into the head beneath the hanger through which the drilling iiuid returned up on the outside of the sleeve may be conducted from the head.

GRANVILLE A. HUMASON.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 37,929 Warner Mar. 17, 1863 303,231 Nuttall Aug. 5, 1884 1,662,984 Scott et al Mar. 20, 1928 2,075,878 Young Apr. 6, 1937 2,075,899 Humason Apr. 6, 1937 2,134,311 Minor et al Oct, 25, 1938 2,222,082 Leman et al Nov. 19, 1940 2,243,340 Hild May 27, 1941' 

